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It now seems inevitable that the present Parliament’s term will come to an end by April 23, one year ahead of the end of its six-year term, but its likely to end with a bang, rather than a whimper, given the landmark legislation that the House is set to approve before dissolution, by way of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

April 20 and 21 have been set aside for the debate on the 19th Amendment and, while there is still some doubt it will garner the two-third majority in the House, required for it to become law, one thing is evident. The ‘National Government’ experiment that was put to the test, following President Maithripala Sirisena’s election to office, has failed to live up to expectations.

Important legislative enactments such as the Right to Information (RTI) law and electoral reforms pledged in President Maithripala Sirisena’s 100-Day programme, remain unfulfilled.
The first snub to the UNP-led minority Government came on Tuesday, when a resolution presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayaka, to raise the upper limit of Treasury Bill borrowing to Rs 400 billion, was defeated with 21 votes for it and 52 against it.

The decision by a large number of UPFA members to vote against the regulation, despite assurances earlier in the day by Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala De Silva that they would not oppose it, exposed the widening rift within the Alliance. Things came to a head on Wednesday, when a group of UPFA MPs called on Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa requesting him to recognise former Chief Government Whip MP Dinesh Gunawardena as the Leader of the Opposition, in place of MP Nimal Siripala de Silva.

MP Kumar Welgama led the group of MPs who were in support of Mr Gunawardena’s appointment, urging Speaker Rajapaksa to rule on who should hold the post. He said a majority of UPFA MPs have signed a document and handed it over to the Speaker, in which they have urged that Mr. Gunawardena be recognised as the Leader of the Opposition.Several MPs who spoke in support of Mr. Gunawardena, took pains to emphasise that they had no personal animosity towards Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala De Silva, but said that, under him the Opposition was not functioning effectively.

These assurances by the legislators pushing for Mr. Gunawardena to be named as Opposition Leader, did seem to convince a visibly emotional Mr De Silva to urge fellow UPFA MPs not to stab him in the back in this way. “If you want the Opposition Leader’s post, take it. I will abide by any decision given by the Speaker,” he said.

Speaker Rajapaksa put the ball effectively in the court of the two warring UPFA factions, asking them to sort out the matter among themselves, and send him in writing their decision.
The dispute over the Opposition Leader‘s post exposed the divided loyalties among UPFA MPs, and made it obvious that a significant number of them remain loyal to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Meanwhile, the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) or the TNA, has since joined the fray and asked that its leader MP R. Sampanthan be named to the post, as they have 14 MPs, making it the third largest party in Parliament, after the UPFA and the UNP. “The Government today comprises both the UPFA and the UNP, disentitling both of those parties from occupying the seat of the Leader of the Opposition. No member of Parliament elected from the UPFA or UNP can be the Leader of the Opposition,” the TNA said in a letter to the Speaker.

As to who holds the post will have no significant bearing now, with Parliament set to be dissolved after the 19th Amendment is debated and put to a vote on April 21.
However, the debate itself and the voting would give a clear indication on whether the loyalty of the majority of UPFA MPs remains with former President Rajapaksa, or with President Maithripala Sirisena.